KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Fire Department said a senior living and memory care building was evacuated after a fire Monday morning.
Atria Weston Place on Lakebrook Boulevard in Bearden was evacuated around 8:33 a.m., according to a social media post by KFD.
The fire was reported out by 8:41 a.m. and was limited to one room, KFD said.
A staff member was sent to a local hospital as a precaution and all residents were transferred to a Red Cross building on Middlebrook Pike for temporary shelter, according to KFD.
"There's 80 residents," said Mark Wilbanks, the Assistant Fire Chief of KFD. "Sixteen of those residents live in the 300 hallway, those 16 residents are not going to be able to go back to their rooms today. The facility is going to have to work on a couple of issues, mainly the smoke removal, fire damage, things like that, taking care of that. So they're working with other local assisted living (facilities) to find shelter for those folks. And I should say also that the local assisted living community has really come together to offer bed space for anybody that may need it."
He said several agencies worked together after the fire to make sure the seniors were waiting in a safe space.
"We didn't want to leave these residents outside any longer than we had to. So KAT jumped on it, the Red Cross jumped on it, the health department — everybody. AMR came together very quickly to make this as quick an operation as possible," he said.
Wilbanks said the sprinkler system company still has to make sure the system is in working order, so the residents will be taken to other assisted facilities until it's checked. All 80 residents were taken to the American Red Cross on Middlebrook Pike to shelter immediately following the fire.
"Red Cross partners and has community partners with shelters in place," said Sharon Hudson, the executive director of the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Red Cross. "When a multifamily fire breaks out and residents need to be sheltered in a safe location, we are called upon. We have a congressional charter. And so we stand up a shelter to ensure that community people have a place where they can go for a shelter. And that's part of our mission."
Hudson said her organization is trained for situations like this.
"They were outside after they evacuated," said Hudson. "It's a cold morning. They came here cold. They were transported by another great community partner with the City of Knoxville — KAT brought them all here. A lot of them have those mobility issues. So we have them there. Our first thing was to make sure they were comfortable. Our volunteers are making sure they have blankets, that they have a cup of coffee, that they have snacks. They have all those needs met."
She said it's nice to be able to help out when needed.
"It's great," said Hudson. "It's your family, your nana, your grandparents. They are part of our community. And the beauty of Tennessee is being in our volunteer community. Everyone wants to help. So we've got a lot of volunteers that are trained to just make sure that they're comfortable."